Gordon Paquette Democratic Bernie Sanders Independent The 1981 Burlington mayoral election was held March 3, 1981.

Paquette had easily won reelection to the mayoralty in the 1973, 1975, and 1979 elections and the Democratic Party controlled ten of the thirteen city council seats.

Sanders ran in the election due to the amount of support he received in Burlington during his 1976 gubernatorial campaign.

[10] Bove's decision to run was inspired by discontent with Paquette's raise of taxes, as well as a perceived lack of benefits from Burlington's "urban renewal" projects.

[11] After losing the Democratic primary, Bove announced that he would seek the mayoral office as an independent candidate.

[27] Paquette was also considered to have lost because he proposed an unpopular 65 cent per $100 raise in taxes that Sanders opposed.

[28][29] There was also a significant student population in Burlington caused by the University of Vermont ending the building of dormitories in 1972.